Calling Bullshit 3.5: Common Causes

We explain how common causes can generate correlations between otherwise unrelated variables, and look at the correlational evidence that storks bring babies. We look the need to think about multiple contributions. The fallacy of post hoc propter ergo hoc: the mistaken belief that if two events happen sequentially, the first must have caused the second.

Course: INFO 198 / BIOL 106B. University of Washington
Instructors: Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin West
Synopsis: Our world is saturated with bullshit. Learn to detect and defuse it.

The course will be offered as a 1-credit seminar this spring through the Information School at the University of Washington. We aim to expand it to a 3 or 4 credit course for 2017-2018. For those who cannot attend in person, we aim to videotape the lectures this spring and make video clips freely available on the web.

http://callingbullshit.org
  / callin_bull  
https://fb.com/callinBS
[email protected]

Information School https://ischool.uw.edu/
Department of Biology https://www.biology.washington.edu/


Video edited by Bum Mook Oh
Music by Chris Zabriskie: Prelude No.7